The Seahawks failed to qualify for the 2023 NFL playoffs, but that didn't stop some players from lighting up victory cigars and blasting music in the locker room following a Week 18 win over the Cardinals. While Seattle has since claimed the celebration was in honor of safety Julian Love becoming a new father, veteran leaders Bobby Wagner and Quandre Diggs suggested in separate press conferences that the behavior stems from the "youth" on the team.
"I'm old-school, so it was nice to get a win, but we didn't make the playoffs," Wagner told reporters after Seattle's 21-20 win. "We didn't do what we needed to do early on, so it's a lot of mixed emotions. But you understand you got a young team, and as they progress in their career, they realize how hard wins are to come by, so it's a balance."
Asked directly about the locker-room celebration, Wagner agreed the "youth" were behind it and said he wouldn't be enjoying any kind of victory cigar after the regular-season finale.
"No," he said. "Not at all."
Love later denied that the cigars came out in honor of the win, posting on X (formerly Twitter) that he personally received them as a gift and shared them with teammates to celebrate his son, who was born weeks earlier. He indicated to others they were also a tribute to completing the season: "A lot of players know every year is emotional," he said, per The Athletic. "This team will not be the same next year. It never is. (The cigars were just) to celebrate your guys, your work all season."
Diggs didn't convey frustration over the celebration, admitting that he, Wagner and other older players simply have a bigger-picture perspective on the team's results -- and what is or isn't worthy of post-game celebration.
"Me and Bobby, we've been around a long time, so our expectations are playoffs," Diggs told reporters. "That's not what happened, but those guys just finished their first regular season in the NFL. ... It's always a blessing and an honor to be able to play a full season. ... I can't blame 'em, but at the end of the day, I think just (we) older guys expect more."
